Avanade Technology Predictions: The Trends that Will Matter for North American Organizations in 2017

SEATTLE, Dec. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Avanade, the leading provider of innovative digital and cloud services, business solutions and design-led experiences, shares its technology predictions for 2017. Digital innovation across applications and platforms is pushing organizations to relearn how they interact with their workforce, customers and partners. Mick Slattery, President, North America, shares his top three predictions that will be key for organizations in North America in 2017:

1.   Beyond Pokemon: Augmented reality will be the new enterprise reality.

"In 2017, organizations should be experimenting widely with augmented, virtual, and mixed reality technologies in order to be prepared for the future workforce. AR, VR, and MR are rapidly moving from the gaming and consumer domain to the enterprise at a rapid rate, as leading companies embrace the technologies to improve collaboration, enable employees, and engage better with their customers. For example, AR allows an employee repairing or installing a new device or piece of equipment to receive highly visual step-by-step guidance virtually to complete the task, maximizing productivity and limiting risks. The AR experience made famous by Pokemon is now also poised to transform the way companies engage with customers. Gartner predicts that by 2020, nearly 100 million customers will shop in an AR setting and 71 percent of shoppers expect to view in-store inventory online. This is why, in 2017, enterprises in North America should start experimenting with AR, VR, and MR technologies to understand how best to apply them within their organization."

2.   Design Thinking: The future of innovation is technology that augments the human experience.

"As customers and employees become increasingly digitally savvy, design thinking will become essential for organizations seeking to maintain a competitive advantage. Rather than starting with technology, a design thinking approach visualizes the end experience first and then synthesizes people, processes, and technologies together to achieve that vision. In 2017, we will see organizations leverage digital to drive fundamental shifts in user experiences. Typing and tapping will no longer be the de facto interactions. Instead, digital will enable more immersive experiences, covering gestures, haptics, voice, gaze and so on – seamless engagements between users and machines. As organizations embrace design thinking, the role of the digital humanist will gain prominence. Demonstrating empathy, creativity, collaboration and an agile approach, the digital humanist will advocate for ethical customer and employee expectations in digital innovation projects. This advocacy will span user experience and design, but also the ethics of new technology innovations. 2017 will be the year companies must re-learn their approach to innovation and embrace human-centered design principles – or risk losing their employees and customers to more relevant competitors."

3.   Digital Ethics: Just because you can do something with data, doesn't mean you should.

"In 2017, organizations will pivot from a focus on data acquisition to data intelligence. Applied artificial intelligence and advanced machine learning rank #1 on Gartner's list of Top 10 strategic predictions for 2017. At Avanade, we see clients are increasingly adopting an automation-first approach. However, an augmented workforce comprising humans, intelligent systems, and devices presents new ethical complexities for companies. A recent Avanade survey found that a majority of C-level executives are grappling with ethical issues stemming from the use of smart technologies in the workplace. Companies face the same digital ethics dilemma with customer data. For example, insurers are now using telematics devices to track consumer driving habits. While this might be a good idea for rewarding safe drivers with a premium discount, are the consumers aware who owns the data being produced by the car? And how comfortable would consumers be having the insurers use the telematics device as a trigger to automatically call emergency services in the event of an accident? During 2017, it will become an imperative for organizations to educate employees about the ethical implications of digital technologies. Organizations should also mandate that ethics be part of a design thinking approach, and implement a framework to ensure that intelligent systems continue to augment and improve human actions and decisions – without risking the trust and expectations of customer and employees."

About Avanade

Avanade is the leading provider of innovative digital and cloud services, business solutions and design-led experiences delivered through the power of people and the Microsoft ecosystem. Our professionals combine technology, business and industry expertise to build and deploy solutions to realise results for our clients and their customers. Avanade has 29,000 digitally connected people across 23 countries, bringing clients the best thinking through a collaborative culture that honors diversity and reflects the communities in which we operate. Majority owned by Accenture, Avanade was founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft Corporation. Learn more at www.avanade.com.

Avanade and the Avanade logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Avanade Inc. Other product, service, or company names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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